Intentional Disciples BlogCatherine of Siena Institutehttp://siena.org/June-2008/
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 16:49:12 +0000Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Managementen-gbThe US Court of Appeals: Just the Place for a Snark!http://siena.org/June-2008/the-us-court-of-appeals-just-the-place-for-a-snark
http://siena.org/June-2008/the-us-court-of-appeals-just-the-place-for-a-snark

A Federal Appeals Court has quoted Lewis Caroll in an important decision.

CNN puts it this way:

"A federal appeals court has slammed the reliability of U.S. government intelligence documents, saying just because officials keep repeating their assertions does not make them true.

A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington likened the Bush administration's case to a line in an 1876 nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll: "I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true."

To follow the Court's reasoning, I think we need to understand the quotation in its context: The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits"

Fit the First

Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried,As he landed his crew with care;Supporting each man on the top of the tideBy a finger entwined in his hair.

"Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:That alone should encourage the crew.Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:What i tell you three times is true."

It runs about 20 minutes. I felt like I was babbling at the time but critical listerners tell me its "lively". Listening to it again, there are some theological nuances I would add (if this were in print and I had more time to work with) but hey, that's live radio. Warts and all.'

Just click on the icon button to the right of "interview on relationship with God" and the radio interview will pop up. Click on that and it begins

Baptism begins a new relationship between Aspen and God. She cannot offer any obstacles to the grace, the new life in the Holy Spirit, that God, Father, Son and Spirit offer her today. When the blessed water is poured over her head, original sin is forgiven, she becomes a daughter of God, her soul is marked with a character making her eligible to participate in the sacramental life of the Church, and she becomes a member of Jesus' body living today.

You make promises today to not only raise her in the Catholic faith, but to introduce her to God who has created her. All of us in the Church are to model for her what it is to be a disciple, and help her live in such a way that she can experience the blessings Jesus describes in the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount.

But these are peculiar blessings, and they have to be modeled and taught. We don't come by them naturally. Jesus and His mother are the best models of actually living the beatitudes he preaches, and I can't help but believe that he was preaching from experience. If that's the case, then we might presume that the blessings Jesus promises begin in this life, and find their fulfillment in heaven in the next. Thus, one of the greatest gifts you can give your daughter is to model for her "beatitude living" and teach her to live this way, too.

Let's look briefly at each of them.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.As you may know, in Luke's Sermon on the plain, Jesus says simply, "Blessed are the poor," and I believe that helps us understand what Matthew may be getting at with "poor in spirit." When the rich young man who has followed the commandments from his youth asks Jesus, "What must I do to inherit everlasting life?" Jesus responds by saying, "follow the commandments," but he's already done that and senses something's missing. So Jesus tells him to sell all he has – becoming physically poor, reliant on others – and then to come, follow him...become a disciple if he wishes to enter the kingdom. To be a disciple is to follow, and that means allowing another to lead, to make the decisions of which way to go, to trust when you can only see a few steps ahead. To be poor in spirit is to choose dependence over independence, guidance over self-determination, and trust over self-reliance.

Often we refer to headstrong, willful children as "spirited." You must teach Aspen to become poor in spirit. Rather than pursuing her own will, her own designs, you must teach her - and show her - how to make Jesus' will her own – to give up living for herself, relying on herself and her own goodness, and trusting the grace and providence of God to be enough. Teach your daughter to accept the kingdom as a gift, rather than a reward earned. And, help her learn to trust that following Jesus is to begin entering the kingdom now.

What immediately struck me was how few representatives there will be from the two centers of the new global Church: Only 4,000 pilgrims each from South America and Africa.

27,000 from North America

54,000 from Europe

100,000 from Australia

Understandable with rising air fares.

But its time for WYD to be held in South America, I think. The enormous cost involved is one huge factor, I'm sure. And the political and economic stability and infrastructure necessary to make it work. And the strong interest of the local bishops.

If they did it in the Philippines, surely they can do it in Rio.

WYD would be a powerful response to the rapid "de-Catholicizing" of Latin America and might well drawn many back to the faith.

]]>sherry@siena.org (Sherry)June 2008Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:52:00 +0000The Church on the Flip Side of the Worldhttp://siena.org/June-2008/the-church-on-the-flip-side-of-the-world
http://siena.org/June-2008/the-church-on-the-flip-side-of-the-worldall the news and a plethera of links.

World Youth Day is heating up as well. I'm being inundated with World Youth Day news from down under - like the fact that 712 pilgrims will be coming from Tonga. Tonga has never sent pilgrims to World Youth Day before but now it is happening in their backyard, so to speak. It is easy for us northern hemisphere types to forget how far away Rome can feel in Oceania. This World Youth Day will be one of the smallest - but what it could mean to the Church on the flip side of the planet is beyond price.

Meanwhile, our own Aussie team is preparing to do their Called & Gifted thing in Melbourne before the major festivities begin. Dioceses around the country are hosting pilgrims as they arrive and offering local events called Day in the Diocese. 20,000 pilgrims are expected in Melbourne - which is a truly beautiful and very cosmopolitan city. The CSI gang will be presenting on Thursday, July 10.

And then onto the really big show in Sydney and multiple presentations on Discernment and MIssion at the Youth Festival. You can also meet members of the CSI team (OP and lay) at the big Dominican booth at the Vocations Expo, so be sure and stop by.

Clara has had some very cool bookmarks made up as give-aways for pilgrims featuring Pier Giorgia Frassati and Caroline Chishom. The theme: mission, vocation, and discernment as lay apostles. Unfortunately, I'm not techie enough to post the PDF files here. But here's a sample of the text:

Pier Giorgio Frassati

had a vocation

...he was not a priest,

...he was not a religious,

...he was not married.

When he was Baptised he

was called and gifted.

He responded to that call

and used those gifts to love

and serve God by loving and

serving those around him.

He died at age 24. The poor of

Turin flocked to his funeral.

He lived life to the full sharing

his material and spiritual wealth

with others.

The Siena Institute can help

you discern your Gifts and

your vocation.

Good stuff. By the way, if you want to reach our Australian team, you can reach Clara by dropping her an e-line at clara@siena.org.

]]>sherry@siena.org (Sherry)June 2008Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:47:00 +0000Personal Relationship With God and Making Discipleshttp://siena.org/June-2008/personal-relationship-with-god-and-making-disciples
http://siena.org/June-2008/personal-relationship-with-god-and-making-disciplesWhat was fascinating was to hear a bit of the station's promo - all about relationship with Christ!

If this topic has caught your attention and you would like to be trained to help others grow in their lived relationship with God, join us there. There are significant discounts available for groups of 2 or more.

]]>sherry@siena.org (Sherry)June 2008Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:01:00 +0000Clearing Headhttp://siena.org/June-2008/clearing-head
http://siena.org/June-2008/clearing-headMust make some tea and clear my head after the commotion last night. Pippin the cat, strictly a house feline - 16 years old and still jumping - vanished last night.

I got up from a phone call with my sister to find out that the back door was mysteriously open and Pippin, apparently, out in the night with our local foxes and coyotes. Much hue and cry for 45 minutes, looking everywhere. And then she walked out from her hiding place as though nothing had happen.

Not enough sleep. Must clear head.

interview topic: the blog conversation last week on the Pew Religious Landscape survey and the whole idea of "personal relationship" with God.

Zenit has an account of the Pope's comments when receiving the bishops of Honduras on their ad limina visit here.

The presence of lay evangelists and "delegates of the Word" is apparently very important in the life of the Church in many places in Latin America. However, with the influx of immigrants from Central and Latin America in this country we would do well to increasingly rely on their training and formation when they become members of our communities in the United States.

I have firsthand experience of the great value of the formation that many Latin Americans receive to proclaim the Word especially in catechetical settings from my time working at a small, rural parish in eastern North Carolina where we were very reliant upon their efforts within the Hispanic community. I worked with an 18 year old who had received some training and formation from his pastor in North Carolina and provided the Spanish language components of our multi-parish Confirmation retreat. He was by far one of the most effective preachers I have ever encountered. He held 90 other Confirmation candidates spellbound for over an hour as he preached on the power of Confirmation as a personal Pentecost. You could have heard a pin drop.